


Surveillance

by kerlin



Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-03
Updated: 2010-09-03
Packaged: 2017-10-11 10:38:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/111517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerlin/pseuds/kerlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Murphy's having a rough night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surveillance

The job wasn't going well. They all had their little quirks and foibles, but this particular one just wasn't working out. They had spent countless hours going through all the gritty details that built a case: phone records, wiretaps, interviews with the suspect's cousin's landlord. Still, nothing.

So it was that Murphy found himself, in an increasingly common turn of events, on surveillance duty.

He didn't really mind it, all things considered. He'd known going into this business that it was ninety-nine parts boredom to one part excitement, and that sometimes no matter how much work you did, you just couldn't solve a case.

But he wasn't quite ready to give up on this one yet. Laura wanted it too badly. He wanted to be able to say that he wanted it too badly, but Murphy knew himself better than that; the cases he took personally were few and far between. Most of the time, he cared because Laura cared.

"Anything?"

Murphy nearly leapt out of the seat in shock, but settled for tightening his hands on the steering wheel convulsively. "No, but if there was something, you'd have just blown it wide open."

"Oh, relax," Steele said. "I made a thorough survey of the area. I'm not completely new to this."

"I wouldn't know," Murphy snapped back, and made himself focus on the door to the warehouse, where he convinced himself he'd seen motion.

"Ah." The glint in Steele's eye told him he'd hit the mark, but not in the way he was intending. If anything, the imposter seemed amused by Murphy's continued anger. "Tell me, you don't have any particular interest in this case, do you?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand." No - no motion. Just the reflection of the moonlight off the waves.

"I think you do. Why else would you be in the middle of nowhere on a Friday night?"

“You’re here too,” Murphy blurted out, and realized too late that it sounded like he was challenging Steele to meet him on the playground after school.

“So I am.” That seemed to be all the answer he was going to get.

Murphy finally relented. “This case is important to the agency.”

“On the contrary.” The bastard was definitely smirking; it was obvious even in the dim light from the street lamp.

“I hardly think you’d know what’s important to the agency and what’s not.”

Still smirking. Murphy took his hands off the wheel and flexed them carefully, giving long and detailed thought to just how much he wanted to plow a fist into Steele’s immaculate face.

“You may be right. I have, however, noticed that what is important to Laura becomes immediately important to the agency.” Steele shifted, leaning his elbow against the door and tapping his fingers on his lips while watching the warehouse door.

“Laura is the agency.” The ‘you bastard’ was clearly implied.

“Yes, she is,” Steele replied in a murmur, and before Murphy could ask him just what he meant by that, the woman in question pounded on the driver’s side window.

“What on earth are you two doing in there?” she demanded. “They just wheeled the merchandise out right under your noses, and it’s about to be on a boat to China. Wake up!”

There was really no arguing with that, so with one last dirty look at Steele, Murphy threw himself out of the car and sprinted after Laura, chasing her through the half-dark.


End file.
